Improvement in fire-escape ladders



' FNITED STATES MICHEL PARENT, or MONTREAL, CANADA.A

IMPRVENIENT IN FIRE-ESCAPE LADDERS.

i Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 146,274, dated January 6,1874; applicationled November 22, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MICHEL PARENT, of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec and Dominionof Canada, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Ladders; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construc- `to enable them to obtain access to the upper stories and roofs of buildings which cannot be entered by the stairs on account of iire or smoke. The nature` of my invention consists in providing ladders with suspension and supporting hooks, which are so constructed and arranged that the ladders can be securely attached to iron bars or rings applied to the wall of a building, or to parts of cornices, window-frames, or windowsashes, so as to hang closeto the side of a building; said hooks being also so constructed that two or more ladders can be securely and quickly spliced together when a considerable height is to be reached7 as will behereinafter explained. The invention also consists in a hooked rod or grapple, which has attached to it a strap or rope for the purpose of lashing the lower end of a suspended ladder securely t0 a windowframe orother object, for preventing vibration of the ladder, as will be hereinafter explained. The following is a description of my improvements:

I contemplate making my ladders very light and portable, and for this purpose their 'side bars A A, and also their rounds or crossbars- B B, may be made of tubing, properly riveted together. I also intend using short ladders, which will extend from one story of a building to another, andu from the highest story of a building to the roof thereof. The upper and lower ends of each ladder are contracted, so that they will be received be tween the side bars A A of other ladders at any point between the upper and lower rounds or cross-bars, and these upper and lower ends ing. Just below these hooks a a, and springing from their lower ends, are'two hooks, b b, which are directed upward and termina-ted within or below the suspension-hooks a a. Several rounds below the hooks a a. b b are two hooks, c c, fixed at such a distance apart as will allow them to hook over any one of the rounds of another ladder, between the side bars thereof. The lower contracted end of each side bar of the ladders is constructed with a long bent4 horn, d, and a downwardlydirected hook, c. The two hooks e e are de-` signed as connecting-supports for an upper ladder upon a round, B, of a lower ladder; and as the horns d cl are arranged o n the same side-of the ladder as the several hooks described they will bear against the wall of a building against which they are suspended, and keep the rounds and side bars at aproper distance from such wall. It' the frames surrounding the windows of a building and the eaves of the roofs thereof are provided with attaching bars oreyes, the hooks a a of each ladder can be suspended from them, and by using a number of ladders any story of a building can be safely reached. If a building is not so provided, the ladders can be hooked to the cross-rails of the window-sashes or to the window-sills. Fig. 2 represents a rod,`Gr, having .a rectangular hook, g. This hooked rod has a rope or strap, h, attached to it near its hooked end, which isV used for lashing the lower end of a ladder and keeping it steady. This is done by plunging the hook g through a window-pane and engaging it with the central upright ofthe sash-frame. This secures the hook to the building, after which the strap h is used to lash the lower end of the ladder to the rod Gr. It' desired, hooks or eyes may be secured to the side bars of theladders near their upper ends, for readily attaching pulleyblocks C tothe ladders, through which blocks and ropes f are passedior lowering objects from buildings, for elevating hose, and for other purposes. The axles of the pulleys pass freely through them and through the blocks, and the hooked ends j of these axles pass over the pulleys for the purpose of preventing the ropes slipping off of them. Springs hold the hooks in their places.

'Vhat I claim as new7 and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The hooks a a and b b, constructed on the contracted upper ends of the side bars of a ladder, as and for the purposes described.

2. The hooks c c on the side bars of a ladder, in combination with the hooks a a b b, as and for the purposes described.

3. The hooks and horns on the lower contracted extremities of a ladder, in combination With the suspensiondiooks a a., substantially as described.

4. The use7 in combination with suspensionladders, of the hooked rod G and lashing-strap h, as and for the purposes described.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereimto subscribed my name in the presence of two Witnesses.

MICHEL PARENT.

Witnesses:

L. A. DEssAULLEs, G. F. PANNEAU. 

